Method of charging furnaces



2 Sheets-Shee.t' 1.

m r 2 m, M m s (No Model) s; T. WELLMAN. METHOD OF CHARGING FURNAGES.

Patent-ed Feb. 18,1890.

No Model. 2 Sheets-Sheet 2;

S. T. :WELlrMAN.

METHOD OF CHARGING PUQNAUES.

Patented Feb. 18. 18 90.

e fezz 34p fl zgy e gll UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL 'r. WELLMAN. or .CLIEVEIQAND, OHIO METHOD'OF CHARGING runmoss] SPECLFIGAT'IQN forming part of Letters Patent No; 491,797, dated February 18,1890. Application iiledluch 23,1889- lm'hl Io. 304,419. (10 ilinllild I i To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL-T. WELLMAN, of Cleveland, in the county of Ouyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a' certain new and useful Improved Method of Charging Furnaces; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in pertains to make and useg the art to which it the same.

My-invention relates to an improved method of charging furnaces; and it consists in the steps hereinafter described and claimed. My-

improved method is adapted to charge, for instance,'tlie Siemens, Martin, or open-hearth furnace-for manufacturing steel, or for charging any melting -furnace that is charged through doors or openings in the side of the vided having a larger spoon at the forwardend thereof for receiving the finer material. 13y such primitive means the material in comparatively small quantities was run into the furnace and dumped. This method of charging was slow, whereby the operations of the furnace were greatly delayed, and on' account of manual labor required the charging was expensive. For instance, with'from three to four men, theone for operating the chargingbar and tlhe others for placing the material on the iarging-bar, a ton of material was charged usually in about from six to ten minutes, and at such rate it required about from two and a half to three hours to charge a. furnace of thirty tons capacity. \Vith my improved method the ehargingdiars aforesaid and the men for operating the same are dis penscd with, and in place thereof dumping.

boxes are employed. The furnaces, in case there are more than one, are set 111 line, with track-rails extending in front of the furnaces material alongside of the Mnaces.

and leading from thence to the yard orplace where the material is stored or received, with cars operating on the tracks fo'r bringing the The dumping-boxes may be of" any desired size, the capacity of those that} have thusfar used being about one and ahalf tons of material each. These dumping-boxes'are placed upon the cars and filled with the material, it

requiring no more labor to fill theboxes thus placed than it would require to load the same amount of material directly'onto the cars without the boxes. Enough dumpingboxes and cars should be provided forearrying the material necessary in charging at least one furnace, and asserting-of material in the way of selecting the proportions of difierent ingredients is done in filling the different clamp ing-boxes, so that the latter contain in the aggregate a charge for afu rnace, and may be dumptd indiscriminately intothe furnace.

Suitable mechanism operated by'power. is

provided for lifting successively the loaded dumping-boxes from the car, conveying the same into the furnace, dumping theioad, and withdrawing the empty boxes and re" turning thereto the cars. It requires'usually but the fraction of a minute to thus handle each dumping-box, and a thirty ton' furnace may be charged in from twelve to fifteen minutes. The mechanism for thus handling the dumping-boxes in charging may be varied indefinitely, according tocircumstances.

Suitable mechanism for carrying out my method, more especially where a series of furnaces are set in line, is outlined in the ac companying drawings.

Figure 1. is a side elevation, partlyin section. Fig. 2 is a plan, partly insection. Figs, 3 and 4 are modifications showing, respect ively, tongs for handling the: dumping-box and a box with a dumping-bottom.

A A are melting -'fnrnaces of the' openhearth variety, and l} Baretracks extending along in front of the furnaces and leading from thence to the yard or wherever the matcrial for supplying the furnaces is-storcd or received, and 'b' I) are cars adapted to travel on the tracks" in ,transporting the material alongsidethefurnaces.

.(J C are the dumping-boxes, shown resting on the cars, the boxes being laden with maedge thereof, being oli'set end t", the latter having [hinges e of the va rii-ty. shownin l-ig. :2, these tlangcsbeingnpb and Iii-ejecting outward and along the outer tuWJtl'd each other, asshown at 1-, the flanges-painially inclosing a recess and the flanges near the upper ends thereof having transverse holes for receiving a pin or key c.

l) is the lifting-bar, l),adapte l to box. In attaching the lifting-bar to' the having, a broad head (lumping-box, pin 0 having been withdrawn,

the pin is returned to its place after head 1) is in position ,in the recess, the pin when in place extending aerossabove head i), thus locking the parts, whereby the dumping-box isheld rigid with the lifting-bar. -liar Dis mounted on and journaled in suitable boxes connected with tilting frame E, with hydraulic mm or other suitable means for raising and lowering the frame and lifting-bar,

in lifting the dumping-boxes from the ear,

and returnin" the boxes to the ear. Frame E has a reciprocating movement endwise, whereby the lifting-bar and dumping-boxes are thrust into the furnace and withdrawn therefrom. Bar 1) is rotated on its axis by means, for instance, of ram F or other suitable appliance in dumping the boxes in the furnace. The mechanism for supportingand operating the lifting-bar is mounted on'ear G, the latter by means of suitable tracks traveling along in 'front of the different. furnaces, and the car may be stopped whenever barl) is opposite any furnace of the series or opposite any door of the respective furnaces. I

It is -1 "lit and located some little distance apart fit in recess 5 ot' the dumping-- not considered necessary to further describe the mechanism for operating the.

lifting-bar, for there-risen that-analogous mechanism is'shown and des ribed in United States Letters latentfNos. 3Jl,4lft and 394,421, granted to me December 11, 1-898, and similar mechanism having a rotating lifting-bar having been made the subject of Letters Patent now pending. In place of the tongs sho vn in smzh'application head i) is substituted, and the rain and m chanism for opcningand closiiig the tongs is dispenstd with. 'lhe tongs might be retained and made to grasp the dumpingwboxes, (see Fig. 3,) but would dumping-boxes load. and returning the dumping-boxes outehargmg furnaces from the side thereof, eono "r be more expensive in constructionthan head I) aforesaid. It is prefcrablgbut not BS5OD- tial, to reverse the boxes in dumping, as the dumping-boxes might be provided with.

hinged or lumping bottoms. (See Fig. l \Vitha dumping-bottom the material would not be so well distributed in the furnace as is done li -reversing the box in opposite dilt ctions'uith successive loads.

I do not wish to limit myself to any partienlar eonstructionof mechanism foroperating the lifting-bar, as this may be varied indefinitely according to circumstances. Some times it-might be more convenient to attach such mechanism to a travelingerane or other variety of crane; or in case, for instance, of but one furnace the meehanisin could be greatly reduced or simplified.

, What I. claiin is 1. The means herein described for charging a tfurnaee from the side thereof, eonsisting, cssentlally, of dumping-boxes, cars for conveying thedumping-boxes to a point opposite the charging-door, and a lifting-bar adapted to en gage thedumping-boxes one at a time, convey them into the furnace, and dircharge the load and return the bones to the outside of the furnace, substantially as set forth. 7

. 2. The means herein described of charging iur'naces from the side thereof, consisting, essentially, in dumping-boxes for carr ing the material,'ears fortransporting the load ed. dumping-boxes to a position adjacent the furnaee and a lifting-bar conveying the loaded into the furnace, dumping the side the furnace, substantially asset forth.

3. The mechanism herein described of sisting,essentially, in dumping-boxes for earrying the material, ears for transporting the dumping-boxes and load to positions adjacent the furnace, and a. lifting-bar for conveying the loaded dumping-boxes from the cars into the furnace, dumping the load, and returnthe empty dumping-boxes from-thence to he cars, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I sign this sriecifieation, in the "presence of. two witness s, this too 6th day of Ft'ibruary, 189m.

, SAMUEL 'i. W JLLMAN.

Witness s:

CH/ts'. ,l'i. Donna, Gri l. W. Kim 

